DOU-BEL QUICK START
Evans is aiming to get off to a flier
JONNY EVANS wants a win over Belarus in Belfast to give Northern Ireland the best start possible to their Euro 2020 campaign.
Maximum points from their opening two Group C fixtures would keep Michael O’Neill’s men in the qualification mix alongside the pool favourites Germany and Holland.
And it would be the perfect platform ahead of June’s away double header in Estonia and Belarus, with tougher dates with the Germans and Dutch lying in wait next season.
“We want to put ourselves in a position where we have everything to play for going into the second half of the campaign,” said Evans.
“It was important to get off to a good start and we’ve done that but we’ve got to capitalise on that.
“Now we have to look after the Belarus game, make sure we get three points and be in a position to turn our focus to the games in June.”
Evans says that O’Neill has broken the group up into bite-sized targets and “two halves” with the Germany and Holland dates looming in September, October and November.
“We’ve tried to break the group down into two halves really, with two double-headers to start with against Estonia and Belarus,” he said.
“And then we can analyse it when we get to the September, October and November fixtures with tough games against Holland and Germany.”
Evans has been impressed by young Leeds United goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell who is really growing in confidence and made a crucial save to deny Estonia an equaliser on Thursday.
Norwich City left-back Jamal Lewis and Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones – who have only 13 caps between them – also impressed in the Group C opener.
“It’s good to see that we’ve got good young lads coming into the squad who are able to affect the team and push us forward,” he said.
Today, 7.45pm